ABSTRACT
Recombinant protein expression using eukaryotic expression systems has certain advantages, such as addition of posttranslational modifications that help protein stability and activity. Asparagine-linked sugar attachment is one of the most common posttranslation modifications. However, sugar modification can impede the growth of high-quality protein crystals for structural studies using X-ray crystallography. To overcome this problem, consensus sites of N-linked attachments can be mutated into other similar residues, such as aspartic acid. Alternatively, enzymatic deglycosylation can be used to remove sugars. Peptide-N-Glycosidase F (PNGase F; EC 3.5.1.52) and Endoglycosidase H (Endo H; EC 3.2.1.96) are the most popular enzymes for this purpose.
Subject(s)
Glycoproteins/chemistry , Glycoproteins/metabolism , Protein Engineering/methods , Animals , CHO Cells , Cricetulus , Crystallography, X-Ray , Glycosylation , HEK293 Cells , Humans , Mannosyl-Glycoprotein Endo-beta-N-Acetylglucosaminidase/metabolism , Protein Engineering/instrumentation , Recombinant Proteins/metabolismABSTRACT
Elevated transforming growth factor (TGF)-ß signaling has been implicated in the pathogenesis of syndromic presentations of aortic aneurysm, including Marfan syndrome (MFS) and Loeys-Dietz syndrome (LDS). However, the location and character of many of the causal mutations in LDS intuitively imply diminished TGF-ß signaling. Taken together, these data have engendered controversy regarding the specific role of TGF-ß in disease pathogenesis. Shprintzen-Goldberg syndrome (SGS) has considerable phenotypic overlap with MFS and LDS, including aortic aneurysm. We identified causative variation in ten individuals with SGS in the proto-oncogene SKI, a known repressor of TGF-ß activity. Cultured dermal fibroblasts from affected individuals showed enhanced activation of TGF-ß signaling cascades and higher expression of TGF-ß-responsive genes relative to control cells. Morpholino-induced silencing of SKI paralogs in zebrafish recapitulated abnormalities seen in humans with SGS. These data support the conclusions that increased TGF-ß signaling is the mechanism underlying SGS and that high signaling contributes to multiple syndromic presentations of aortic aneurysm.
